It was either Turtle or Smoke on the radio last week and said Nate wouldn't be able to practice until around SEC Play begins and then would need to get into baseball shape. If his recovery doesn't go as quickly as planned a redshirt would be considered for him.

i saw Clay Dirks pitch when he was a Jr. in highschool or well between his jr-sr summer. 90-92 with movement and with a hammer of a curve ball. i can tell you now that he is not even close to where he was then. right now he is 85-87. i hear he has been doing well even though his velocity is not quite where it will be. i know the pitching staff well and i can tell you that if Dirks gets back to 100% he will be the best pitcher on the team. i know some may think im nuts, but the only reason he is even in college is because he hurt his arm. as a highschool sr. he was projected to go anywhere from the 1st round through the early 3rd round. if he gets 100% watch out.

oh yea, does anybody have a clue why lsu has so many frikn arm injuries? i know for a fact that we lead the sec in pitchers with season ending arm injuries. the reason is because they have crappy mechanics. if you know anything about pitching mechanics you will agree. we have a bunch of good arms, but really the only one who is very sound mechanically that i know of is Determan. can anyone say " teach mechanics, just dont call pitches."

The early prognosis from the horse's mouth this afternoon was that he would be out for approximately 2-4 weeks, which means that Bayou Bengal is right...

Which also means that Turtle or Smoke last week said it, and it was right back then, too...

Guys, to honestly think about it, Bumstead was 11-4 last year, but started the year out of the bullie, and then became a spot starter, and only then came on as our go-to guy.

Meier and Mestepey are Friday night ace's ANYWHERE in this league. Meier's got Omaha experience, and Mestepey pitched a TEN INNING COMPLETE GAME VICTORY IN A SUPER REGIONAL AS AN EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD!

Determan came on as one of those "shiver" pitchers last year.

That's my own term...What it means is that ever since I first saw Brett Laxton pitch in 1993 on CBS, every now and then, LSU's run across a pitcher that at times could make those "frissons" (French for "goosebumps") show up on your arms and down the back of your neck.

One of those guys you knew was special. One of those guys that made you "shiver"...

Laxton was one. McDonald came before him. Patrick Coogan was another. Kevin Ship, Doug Thompson, they were also ones who could make your hair stand up on end.

Lately, Brian Tallet and Lane Mestepey have made me "shiver" seeing their performances.

Watching Tallet strike out the side in the ninth inning in 2000 in Birmingham at the SEC Tournament, watching that team become an absolute JUGGERNAUT, on its way to going undefeated in the post-season and beating upwards of TWENTY million dollars in major league pitching.

Watching Mestepey throw 10 innings on Friday night at Zephyr...

It's how I felt watching Determan last year in the post-season, catching that liner...Coming back towards the dugout...Just puffing up his chest....slapping guys hands...Just gave me shivers...